Driving mechanism



NOV. 20, E. R. FROST DRIVING MEGHANISM Filed March 17, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l EWI/R65@ 3m QN-l: A w

Nov. 20, 1934. E. R. FROST DRIVING MEcHANIsM Filed March 17, 1932 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 wowulo.

Nm'. 20, 934. E. R. FROST DRIVING MEGH'NISM Filed March 1'7, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I EPLRFWS@ gmw- Patented Nov. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES 1,931,167 DRIVING MECHANISM 1 Earl R, Frost, Timn. ohio', assign tu The National Machinery Company,l Tifn, Ohio Application Mai-c1117, 1932, serial No. 599,510

2 claims. (c1. 'zi-411V,`

This invention relates to driving mechanism for use with metal working machines such as presses, forging machines, etc., and with ore crushers, and other machines having movable members 5 subject to sudden stalling due to unyielding resistance by materials being acted upon.

When a machine of any of the types mentioned' ing on thenature ofthe clutch plate surfaces,

temperature, adjustment, and other conditions beyond control. As there is no way to determine i whether or not the clutch has slipped, it is impossible to ascertain what machine pressures have been developed.

Should a friction clutch be made oversize there would be no safety factor in the machine and should the flywheel, establish too high pressures on the working parts in the event of an overload,

- the lack of slippage would result in breakage.

Should the friction clutch be made to do a rated capacity, `repeated adjustments would be necessary in order to maintain the desired capacity. This could not be done quickly with any degree of accuracy and, therefore, such an arrangement would not be practical.

Where friction clutches have been used there have been very serious breakages and where accidentshave not occurred there have been bad delays on account of the intricacies of adjustment. 'Ihe burning out of the friction clutches has been the rule rather than the exception.

` It is very desirable that a friction clutch be used instead of a pin clutch or other similar coupling means because of the quick but gradual pick up possible therewith, and because of its effectiveness, strength, and ease of operation.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a driving mechanism which utilizes a friction clutch and also compensates automatically for the high pressures developed by the ywheel, by permitting slippage when -the machine is overloaded, this action taking place without any of the disadvantages herein mentioned.

It is a further object to utilize driving mechanism having a friction clutch but providing a constant and positive torque ability by the use of and, easily controlled friction slip, properly placed, it f A friction clutch has -1 drive without the usual danger of breakage due to overloading.

A still further object is to arrange a friction slip in the driving train which can be marked so that any slippage occurring can be noted and it becomes possible immediately to determine when the machine is being worked beyond a. safe limit.

It is a well known fact that where a pressure machine is operated by a friction clutch there `is no way to tell whether the clutch is delivering the requisite amount of torque in order to cause the machine to properly perform its function. When the clutch starts to slip more easily, as they generally do on ,account of the glazing or polishing effect which results from the constant slipping at the time they are engaged and disengaged, then it prevents theniachine from performing its operation, and the user is in serious difliculty because he does not known whether the machines failure is on account of the slipping of the clutch,

'or because of the size of the forging that he is adjusted to the point of its ability toproduce the forging or insure the proper performance of the machine, so that if the machine for any reason refuses to continue doing what it has'previously been doing, then the user can almost be certain that the trouble lies in the fact that the friction clutch was worn or the friction disks have glazed so that it slips too easily. This ability of the friction slip to act as a telltale on the performance of the friction clutch is a marked advantage of the invention.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be""made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

' In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a press equipped with the present improvements.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the driving train shown in Figure 1. y

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the flywheel slip.

Figure 4 is a section through a modified form of i driving train showing the clutch Iocad at one of the gears of the train.

Figure is a section through a combined iiy- V wheel slipLand friction clutch. I

been shown a press 1 the driven shaft 2 of which is adapted to operate a slide employed for shaping metal. Such a structure has been shown in detail in the copending application of William L. Clouse, Cold press, filed April 1, 1931, Serial Number 526,991. A motor 3 has a gear 4 which operates an intermediate gear 5 on a jack-shaft@l Another gear 7 on this shaft drives a gear 8 which is loose on shaft 2 and has a friction clutch member 9 rotatable with it. A shiftable friction clutch member 10 is carried by and rotates with shaft 2. The friction clutch 9-10 thus provided is oversize so that when in use it will not slip because of any overloading to which the machine might be subjected. By operating this clutch the shaft 2 can be started and stopped at will, as will beapparent. As before explained the use of an oversize friction clutch in a driving train including a flywheel has not been practical. In order to permit such use there is here provided a flywheel 11 having an outer hub member 12 and an inner hub member 13. The member 13 is secured to jack-shaft 6 so as to rotate therewith and has an annular flange 14 at one end. A plate 15 is secured to its other end by adjusting screwsgl-and interposed between the outer hub member 12 and flange 14 and plate 15 are friction rings 17. Thus a friction slip connection is provided between the jackshaft and the ywheel and said connection can be regulated by screws 16.

Obviously the friction slip can be adjusted to operate only when the machine passes its rated load capacity. Therefore should the mechanism be stalled from any cause, the ywheel will not be-brought tola sudden stop but will-rotate about the jack-shaft until the resistance offered by the friction slipbrings it to a stop. By placing a chalk-mark X or the like` on the hub members any slippage' can be detected instantly by the shifting of a portionof the mark as shown at y inFlgure 3. Thus it can be determined immediately when the machine is being worked beyond its limit.

As before stated the locations of the friction clutch and the friction slip can be varied. In Figure v4, for example, the flywheel 18 is flxedly c onnected to jack-shaft 19 and a gear 20 Aon the jackshaft drives` gear 21 with an inner hub member 2 2 and an outer hub member 23. A friction slip 24 like the ione shown in Figure 2, is interposed between the hub members. A clutch member 25 is carried by the inner hub member which is rotatable on driven shaft 26 while a shiftable clutch member 27 is secured to shaft 26. e

In this construction should the machine be subjected to an overload the momentum of the ilywheel 18 will continue to drive gears 20l and 21 and cause gear 21 to slip untilbrought to a stop by friction. l f

Obviously instead of locating the friction clutch andthe friction slip at different points they both can be combined with the 'iiywheeL as in Figure 5. Here the jack-shaft 28 carries the flywheel 29 which has 'a friction slip 30 between the outer hub member 31 and-the inner hub member 32. The inner hub member is rotatable on the shaft and carries clutch member 33 while the shiftable clutch member 34 rotates with shaft 28. In this structure the oversize friction clutch provides a connection between the flywheel and the shaft which, however, will not interfere with the action o f the friction slipv when the machine is overloaded. y

In Figure 6 the ywheel 35 is coupled to jackshaft 36 by an oversize friction'clutch 37 while a friction slip 38 is provided between the hub members 39 and 40 of the gear 41 on driven shaft 42.

In all of the structures described it is possible to work the m hine to its limit without the hazards due to overloading. This-has not beenA possible heretofore where a friction clutch has been used. f

Furthermore there is provided a constant and positive torque ability by virtue of the easily con- Y trolled conditions existing in the friction-slip as trollable ability of the friction clutch. By making the friction clutch large in relation to the ywheel frictional area, it is obvious that the machine will have a uniform ability.

While in Figure 6 a friction clutch, has been shown between the ily-wheel and its shaft it is to be understood that it could be located between said shaft and the pinion 43 or at any suitable point. This and other modifications are so obvious that further illustration is not deemed necessary.

While the fly-wheel has been shown and described in some of the structures as an element driven by the train it is to be understood that in many cases the flywheel can be used to operate the train.

What is claimed is:

1. In a metal working machine a movable work engaging portion, a drive mechanism therefor including a flywheel, a friction clutch connecting the flywheel to the drive mechanism, there being means included in said mechanism remote from said flywheel and controlled by the flywheel for indicating the location of,a fault when the machine -is stalled or overloaded, said means including a gear and a slip coupling, the said coupling `being designed to carry a predetermined load, one ofthe members of the coupling being rotatable by the ywheel relative to the other member when members of the coupling being rotatable by the,

flywheel relative to the other member when subjected to an overload. l

EARL R. FROST. 

